Npcap is the Nmap Project’s packet sniffing library for Windows. It is based on the wonderful Winpcap / Libpcap libraries, but with improved improved speed, portability, security, and efficiency. In particular, Npcap offers:
+ NDIS 6 Support: Npcap makes use of new NDIS 6 Light-Weight Filter (LWF) API in Windows Vista and later (the legacy driver is used on XP). It’s faster than the deprecated NDIS 5 API, which Microsoft could remove at any time.
+ Extra Security: Npcap can be restricted so that only Administrators can sniff packets. If a non-Admin user tries to utilize Npcap through software such as Nmap or Wireshark, the user will have to pass a User Account Control (UAC) dialog to utilize the driver. This is conceptually similar to UNIX, where root access is generally required to capture packets.
+ WinPcap compatability: If you choose “WinPcap Compatible Mode” at install-time, Npcap will use the WinPcap-style DLL directories (“c:\Windows\System32”) and servcie name (“npf”), allowing software built with WinPcap in mind to transparently use Npcap instead. If compatability mode is not selected, Npcap is installed in a different location (“C:\Windows\System32\Npcap”) with a different service name (“npcap”) so that both drivers can coexist on the same system. In this case, applications which only know about WinPcap will continue using that, while other applications can choose to use the newer and faster Npcap driver instead.
+ Loopback Packet Capture: Npcap is able to sniff loopback packets (transmissions between services on the same machine) by using the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP). After installation, Npcap will create an adapter named Npcap Loopback Adapter for you. If you are a Wireshark user, choose this adapter to capture, you will see all loopback traffic the same way as other non-loopback adapters. Try it by typing in commands like “ping 127.0.0.1” (IPv4) or “ping ::1” (IPv6).
+ Loopback Packet Injection: Npcap is also able to send loopback packets using the Winsock Kernel (WSK) technique. User-level software such as Nping can just send the packets out using Npcap Loopback Adapter just like any other adapter. Npcap then does the magic of removing the packet’s Ethernet header and injecting the payload into the Windows TCP/IP stack.It supports Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10.

npcap v0.07-r2

requirements:
+ nmap for windows
+ Wireshark

changelog v0.07-r2:
+ Made “WinPcap Compatible Mode” OFF the default option in the installer.